From Ashes We Rise
by TheLoneWolf555
Summary: Fate? I've been deifying 'fate' ever since I was a child. And now these Shepard's wish to as well? Might as well help them, not like I got anything better to do. And with my new 'friend' helping me out this should be a piece of cake, right? I mean, its not like the world is at stake here? Right?


**Chapter 1**

"Ugh." He grunted out while opening his eyes only to let out a pained hiss before slamming them shut to shield them from the blinding light, "Wh-where am I?" He asked himself out loud, not really expecting an answer.

"Where do you think?" Gasping in surprise, he tried to scoot away from the sudden voice that answered him, only to find that his chest was unnaturally … numb … leaving him in a state of unexplained lethargy.

"Why don't you open your eyes and see for yourself?" The voice replied, it was a woman's voice though it was emotionless and monotone. The man swung his head around, trying in vain to locate the voice that seemed to come from everywhere at once, before letting out a sigh and slowly opening his eyes, giving them time to adjust to the light.

It was dim, the sky an unnatural shade of grey and the light from the full moon that hung in the sky seemed to give the place a melancholic feeling, like something horrible had just happened. The man looked around and discovered that he was laying on a shore, the sand white in color and littered with smooth black stones ranging in size from pebbles to boulders. He slowly pushed himself up off his back, his chest still numb but it seemed that lethargic feeling had left him. He looked in front of him and found a river only the water was dark almost black in color.

"What the-" He squinted, their was something in the water, no there were several things in the water, shifting and writhing about.

"I would not do that if I were you." The voice spoke again, causing the man to whirl about, "For when one gazes into the abyss, the abyss gazes into you." Behind him was a forest, a dead forest, the trees black and lifeless, like the grey leaves that cover the ground. But what surprised the man the most was the woman that stood between him and the forest.

She was tall, thin as well, and her skin was white, completely devoid of any color. Her hair, done in a braid that was draped over her left shoulder, a dark obsidian in color with strands of white in it. She was covered in a black sleeveless toga with white patterns running across it, that ended at her ankles, showing that she was bare foot as well. Her face, emotionless with the majority of its left side covered by her bangs revealing only her right eye which was unsettling, to say the least. The sclera was completely black with white veins branching across it and her iris was grey with no pupil to be found.

"Who the hell are you and where the hell am I!?" The man exclaimed in fear while taking a few steps back. The woman continued to stare at him before responding.

"You already know the answer to those questions, you simply need to remember."

"What the hell do you mean remember!?" He yelled, anger starting to seep into his voice. The woman just stared at him.

"Answer me damn it!" The man shouted while roughly grabbing ahold of the woman's shoulders.

"Shouting and getting angry won't help you find answers that you already know." She replied, her face and tone never changing. The air was filled with a tense silence as the two continued to stare at each other before the man let out a growl before sighing angrily.

"Fine." He growled out, shoving the woman back while taking a few steps back himself. Taking a few deep breaths to calm himself.

"Good." The woman started, "Now think back on what you last remember." The man crossed his arms while thinking.

"I was out with my sister." He started after a few moments, "We had just finished hanging out with some friends of ours at the local bar, when a … man ran straight for my sister. I pushed her out of the way and got knocked down but I managed to pull the man down with me. He stabbed we with … something and then … then …" He stopped while grasping his head in frustration. "I woke up here. Damn it! What the hell happened to me?" He shouted out while reaching up to grasp his chin only to notice that his hand was cover in red splotches.

"What the-" He looked down to find that not only were both his hands red but his white shirt was torn around the left side and covered in a large red stain as well, "Is this … blood? But that means-" He grasped the tears in his shirt before frantically ripping them open to reveal the majority of the left side of his chest was covered in a collection of scars that glowed an eerie dark blue. The man fell to his knees while his breathing became erratic.

"Oh god, this means I'm … I'm …" He stopped before looking at the woman who gave him a nod, "I'm dead." He fell over, unconscious before he even hit the ground. The woman let out a sigh before walking over and sitting next to the man.

 **[-]**

"So I'm really dead?" The man asked when he regained consciousness.

"Yes."

"And you're really Death?"

"Not exactly."

"But your …" He stopped while gesturing at her.

"Death is a concept, an inevitability, a literal force of nature that has existed since the very beginning, and thus, does not have a physical from. So your mind tries to create an image of what Death would look like and that is what I am." The woman, Death, states. The man nodded, not fully understanding.

"Now you have two options." Death started while standing up, "You can move on, pass away and forever drift in the waves of limbo," Death pointed towards the black river, "or you can take your chance and pick up one of the stones that cover this shore." Death reached down and grabbed a black stone.

"What happens if I pick one of the stones?"

"The stones are other souls, other people, who have died at the same time as you. If you chose to pick one and your souls are similar then they will merge and you will awake in either your body or their body and continue on with your life, all of this, merely a dream."

"And if they aren't compatible?" He asked.

"Then you will both be cast into the depths of limbo, forever in agony as your two souls clash for eternity." The man took a step back while gulping. He looked around at all of the stones surrounding him, noticing that a few of them seemed to slide into the river, Limbo, by themselves. He turned his stare towards Limbo for several minutes before looking back at Death and grabbing the stone held in its hand. It was cold, but somehow comforting, like behind held by famliy.

"So you have chosen to test your luck." Death stated. It wasn't a question. The man nodded before speaking.

"Oh and one more thing." Death looked at him before nodding. The man clenched the hand holding the stone making a fist and gave death a smile before punching it in the jaw.

∽ **CRACK∼**

A loud crack filled the air as Death's jaw was stuck in an unnatural angle and the man held his throbbing hand.

"I promised my sister that if I ever died before her, I would give Death a punch just for the hell of it. Thought I might as well keep it." He spoke in pained tones as he continued to hold the stone in his fist. Deaths jaw twitched before silently moving back into place. Death walked up to the man and placed a hand over his heart.

"Now it is time to see if your souls are compatible or not."

 **[-]**

"Ugh." The man groaned out while grasping his head. There was no warning: one moment Death had placed a hand over his heart, the next he was surrounded by darkness with mild headache.

"So," A voice spoke up behind the man. "You're the one I'm stuck with?" He turned around to find-

"Huh?" The man spoke suddenly. The figure in front of him was wearing a pair of dark green pants, leather boots ending below the knee with metal plates strapped to them, metal knee pads, a long sleeved leather tunic with chainmail woven over it, segmented round metal shoulder pauldrons, metal elbow pads with studs on them, metal gauntlets, and a metal visored helm *****. Clutched in her, if the chest is anything to go by, was a long sword with a wooden grip, a curved hilt, and a metal wolf's head pommel ******.

"What?" She asked.

"Er, nothing." The man spoke wanting to avoid unnecessary questions, "So what happened to you?" The woman stared at the man for a few moments before speaking.

"Take a look." She gestured to the left side of her chest to reveal a large tear in the chainmail that glowed with that same eerie blue as the man's scars.

"Seems like we died in similar ways." She said while pointing at the man's scars, "What about you?"

"I got rushed by some random asshole who was aiming for my sister." The woman gave him a nod.

"Died protecting your sister, huh? Better than me, I got stabbed while I was drunk. Never drinking again." She finished with a small chuckle. Silence filled the air as they both waited for the other say something.

"So," The man began, "What happens now? Cause I got nothing."

"Well according to Death if our souls are compatible then they will merge and as a result our personalities and memories will as well, then we wake up in one of our bodies."

"Okay, so how do we do this?" The man asked. The woman waked up to the man, pulled off her helmet revealing her face, before holding out her free hand.

"Lilith." The man gave the newly identified Lilith a confused look before realising what she wanted.

"Clay." He spoke while grasping her out stretched hand and giving her a firm handshake.

 **[-]**

Garrick let out a frustrated growl as he witnessed the scene in front of him. ' _This was supposed to be a simple job!'_ He thought to himself. ' _Grab my men, pillage Southtown, get paid. They never said anything about the Shepherds showing up and there's only four of them!'_ In front of him, Southtown was in flames and the majority of his men were dead or dying.

"AAAAGGGGHHHH!" The dying scream of one of his men tore Garrick out of his thoughts to reveal that all of his men had perished and the Shepherds were quickly advancing towards him. Garrick cursed under his breath before pulling out his steel axe and preparing for a fight.

"And where," A voice spoke up behind him, heard over the flames despite not being a shout, "do you think you're going?" Garrick whirled around only to freeze in fear. Out of the flames and wreckage of the building he brought down rose a figure.

"I-i-i-impossible!" He stuttered. The figured was covering in chainmail and iron, scorched black by the fire.

"I killed you!" Garrick shouted out while taking several steps back. The figure reached into the burning wreckage and pulled out a long sword that was wreathed in ash and cinder.

"I stabbed you in the heart and watched you bleed out!" Garrick continued to shout as the Shepherds ran up near him. The Shepherds consisting of a man with blue hair wielding an exquisite sword, a girl with blonde hair wielding a healing staff, a man with brown hair wielding a silver lance while riding an armored horse, and a man with white hair wielding a tomb that sparked with electricity in one hand and bronze sword in the other.

"What are you!" The figure stared at him before rushing forward. Garrick frantically swung his axe only for it to knocked out of the way by the figures sword with such force that he lost his footing. Before he could regain his balance the figure raised its long sword and stabbed Garrick through the gut, running nearly the entirety of the blade clean through him.

"Your executioner." They spoke, revealing themselves as a woman. Garrick, unable to speak, coughed up a large amount of blood. The woman grunted before she forced her blade upwards filling the air with blood as she nearly sliced Garrick in half vertically before spinning around and taking his head off with a single swing. The sudden and brutal execution left the Shepherds stunned and the blonde girl a little green in the face.

"Hey, Girl." The woman's voice brought the Shepherds back to their senses, causing the blonde to jump a bit, "You know how to use that." The woman gestured to the staff in her hands.

"Uh, I mean yes!" The girl spoke while lifting up her staff.

"Good, cause that bandit wasn't lying when he said he stabbed m-" The woman was cut short as she fell to her knees, dropping her sword and grasping at her chest. The white haired man quickly took charge while running up to the woman.

"Chrom, Frederick," He yelled out while looking at the man with blue hair and the man with brown hair, "Go out and help the villagers! Lissa," He looked at the girl with blonde hair, " make sure the woman is all right, I'll stay with her and make sure their are no more bandits left." The brown haired one, Frederick, looked towards the blue haired one, Chrom.

"You heard the man Frederick, let's make sure the villagers are safe." Chrom told Frederick who looked like he was about to argue before nodding.

"Very well, milord." With that, the two ran off and the white haired one held the woman up to keep her from falling.

"Alright Lissa you're up." He spoke. The girl, Lissa ran up next to the woman before asking.

"Where are you hurt?" The woman weakly gestured to her heart to reveal a large tear in the chainmail that leaked blood.

"My … chest," Her voice was weak, "over … heart." Lissa nodded before looking towards the white hair man.

"Alright Robin, lay her down carefully." The man, Robin, nodded before carefully laying the woman down on her back. "Alright lady, I'm going to need you to stay calm." The woman nodded weakly before doing what she was told. The tip of Lissa's staff lit up and the wound beneath the woman's chainmail glowed a soft white before it slowly started to stitch itself shut.

Lissa let out breathe when the wound was finished healing. She lowered her staff while wiping away the sweat on her forehead.

"Their," She said, "done. You're lucky, any deeper and it would have struck your heart." The woman sucked in a deep breathe before sitting up.

"Thank you, I am in your debt." The woman spoke after she calmed her breathing.

"Aw don't worry about it." Lissa spoke while scratching the back of her head, "Just doing my job."

"So, what's your name? I'm Robin and this Lissa." Robin asked while holding out his hand.

"Lilith." The woman, Lilith, spoke while grasping Robin's hand. After shaking hands, Robin stood up.

"Come on Lissa, let's go help Chrom and Frederick." Lissa nodded while standing up. Lilith stood as well, causing Robin to frown.

"Lilith I think you rest after what you just went through, that wound almost killed you." Lilith just waved him off before replying,

"Don't worry Robin, this isn't the first time I've almost died and I doubt it'll be my last." Robin continued to frown.

"But still-" Robin was cut off by Lilith patting him on the shoulder.

"You worry too much, no come on let's go, we still need to put out the rest of the fires." Lilith said before picking up her blade and sheathing it in a ring that hung off her belt. ' _Still though, Lissa? Chrom? Why do those names sound familiar?'_ Lilith thought to herself as she ran towards the center of the Southtown followed by Robin and Lissa.

* * *

 ***-Search For Honor Dullahan Armor without the metal plate over the heart**

 ****-Search For Honor Aleister Longsword**

 **AN:**

 **And done, Finally. It took me a little longer than I had hopped to get the story board for this story done but I'm proud to present the first chapter of From Ashes We Rise. Pairing will be revealed as the story progresses, but I am open to suggestions.**

 **This next month will be dedicated to my new RWBY story, Team CEDR, and it will most likely take either a part of December or all of it since I need to work on at least 4 characters and their backgrounds before I can write their storyboard and then the chapters but hopefully I can get it done early, probably not knowing myself but I can always hope.**

 **And thanks again for all of the support you, the readers and followers, have given me, I'll try not to disappoint you.**


End file.
